Sugar Paper x gorjana

"I love Sugar Paper not only for their beautiful designs but also for their story - [co-founders] Chelsea and Jamie are such inspiring creatives and business women. Creatively, we have a similar, feminine aesthetic, so I knew this partnership would be the perfect fit." - Gorjana

Chelsea Shukov and Jamie Grobecker

First things first. How did Sugar Paper begin? Which role do you each play?

Sugar Paper started with a love of paper and a fondness for letterpress printing. We both grew up loving cards and stationery, and a lot of the high quality options felt too granny to us. We wanted the quality of our grandmother’s stationery with an aesthetic that would appeal to a younger generation. We started tinkering with an antique letterpress and Sugar Paper was born.

Within the business we play different roles - Jamie is finance and Chelsea is marketing - but we both art direct and design everything we make. We’re still very hands-on when it comes to product development.

We love that there are two of you at the helm, similar to our brand. Do you find that the two of you balance each other out, or are you similar? What’s the best part of being a co-founder, to you?

We definitely balance each other out. We trust each other immensely and we love a lot of the same things. That said, we each come to the table with a different point of view that allows us to consider a different perspective. We don’t take ourselves too seriously and we laugh a lot. The laughter is the best part of being a co-founder. Being an entrepreneur is a ton of work and it’s nice to share this experience with a close friend.

We love everything you create. What inspires you to design? 

We truly love paper products and we design items that we want to use. We pour over the details - the weight of the paper, the specific pantone colors, and how each item feels when you use it. “Form follows function” is a guiding principal for us and we want our clients to love what we make even more after they use it. To us, that’s the sign of thoughtful design.

You both are working moms – similar to Gorjana. Any tips for balancing kids and business? 

It’s so hard. Balance is nearly impossible. But at the end of the day, our kids come first. We’re in a place in the business where we can take the time to show up for our kids and keep the business running. It helps to have a co-founder who has kids at a similar stage. When one of us is under water as a mom the other can step in and vice-versa. We’re lucky in that way.

We have to know - what’s your funniest/best mom fail?

The working mom fails are a real thing. There’s so much to juggle! I remember pulling up to summer camp to collect my daughter and the camp director looked at me like I had lost my mind. Turns out my daughter wasn’t there! She was at Jamie’s house that day playing with Jamie’s son. I shrugged, giggled, and pulled away like I had it all handled :)